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TV highlights for the week of Feb. 4-10

Chuck Barney, East Bay Times
Published 7:04 a.m. ET Feb. 3, 2018

Mr. Wigglesworth, a shar-pei, will be playing for Team Ruff in Puppy Bowl XIV, airing at 3 p.m. Sunday on Animal Planet.(Photo: Damian Strohmeyer/Animal Planet)

• Ah, Super Bowl LII. We’ll gather around the TV set, shovel thousands of calories into our faces and pretend we’re down with football, even if we don’t know a nickel defense from a Quarter Pounder. This year’s big game pits the New England Patriots (yes, them again) against the Philadelphia Eagles. But it’s about so much more than burly guys pummeling one another on fake grass. We get totally wacky commercials and, of course, the halftime show, which this year will feature Justin Timberlake trying his best to get you up off the couch to dance, dance, dance (without a wardrobe malfunction). 6 p.m., NBC.

• The Eagles and Patriots have got nothing on Team Ruff and Team Fluff, the squads taking part in Puppy Bowl XIV. This year’s game promises to be furrier than ever, with 90 rescue puppies from across the country competing for the coveted Lombarki Trophy. 3 p.m., Animal Planet.

• OK, so you enjoyed the Super Bowl. Now have yourself a great big super bawl. “This Is Us” airs at a special time tonight and don’t expect the show to fumble away its chance to turn us into a nation of blubbering wrecks. 10:15 p.m., NBC (time approximate after the Super Bowl).

MONDAY

• On the season finale of “9JKL,” the Robertses struggle to digest the dirty laundry aired about their family in a tell-all book written by Josh’s ex-wife, Kim (guest star Brooke Lyons). They’re also stunned to learn that Josh might reconcile with her. 9:30 p.m., CBS.

• “Winnie” is an “Independent Lens” profile of Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela. The program examines her life and contribution to the struggle to bring down apartheid and how she became the target of a smear campaign by the South African government. 10 p.m., PBS.

TUESDAY

“American Experience: The Gilded Age” recalls the titans and barons of the late 19th Century, whose materialistic extravagance contrasted harshly with the poverty of the country’s working class. The vast disparities sparked debates still raging today about how wealth is best distributed. 9 p.m., PBS.

WEDNESDAY

Omarosa goes from the White House to the “Big Brother” house in the first-ever celebrity edition of the reality series. The cast also includes, among others, Mark McGrath, Chuck Liddell, Brandi Lynne Glanville and Shannon Elizabeth. … Yeah, we had to Google them, too. 8 p.m., CBS.

THURSDAY

This might be slightly confusing: The Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics won’t be held until Friday, but there are actually some events getting a jump start today, including figure skating and freestyle skiing. 8 p.m., NBC.

FRIDAY

OK, now let’s kick off the winter games in earnest with the big, splashy Opening Ceremony. Mike Tirico cohosts the coverage, along with Katie Couric, from Pyeongchang, South Korea. 8 p.m., NBC.